Chapter 23: The Value of an Elite

Se-hyeon maintained three Shadow Orbs through constant manifestation, picking off the Orcs one by one.

Boom! Crash! Bang!

Eventually, the only ones left were the 30 Orcs whose movements were entirely sealed by the Dark Chains. Se-hyeon gradually slowed his pace and looked at the struggling monsters bound by the obsidian links.

“Shadow Orb.”

Whirrr!

In an instant, 30 Shadow Orbs manifested again. Se-hyeon flashed a thin, predatory smile at the flailing Orcs.

“It’s actually nice when they’re clumped together like this. No need for complex control. Come to think of it, Elites are quite the ‘honey’ monsters.”

If they were scattered, he would have to micro-manage each orb. He couldn’t exactly rain down 30 orbs on just two or three stragglers. But with dozens packed into one spot? He just had to manifest his maximum count and let them fly. It was incredibly efficient. In that sense, Elite monsters were a blessing—they did the work of herding the trash mobs for him.

“Well, the Dark Chains are about to expire.”

Five minutes had nearly passed, signaling the end of the skill’s duration.

“Chweeeek!” “Krawaaaaang!”

The Orcs were still gnashing their teeth, desperate to tear Se-hyeon apart once freed. Then, just as he timed it, the chains constricting them began to rattle and dissolve.

Clatter.

Simultaneously, half of the life force absorbed by the thirty chains flowed into Se-hyeon.

[Dark Chains have absorbed a total of 99,000 HP.] [49,500 HP is being transferred to the caster.]

Each Orc had 3,300 HP drained (3,000 base + bonuses), totaling 99,000, and half of that was sent to Se-hyeon.

[Your health is already full. Excess HP has been discarded.]

Since Se-hyeon hadn’t allowed a single hit, his HP was capped, causing the massive heal to vanish into thin air.

“As expected.”

He wasn’t disappointed; he had foreseen this. Meanwhile, the Orcs—waiting for this exact moment—lunged at him the second the chains vanished.

“Krawaaaaaang!”

Se-hyeon simply released the 30 orbs he had already prepared. “Right. You guys worked hard. Rest in peace.”

Screeeech! BOOM!

The Orcs were instantly swallowed by a chain reaction of dark explosions. The group that had been so “kindly” huddled together was wiped out in a single volley. Only the Elite Orc remained breathing.

“Grrrrr…”

It was alive, but only barely. It was so mangled it could no longer move properly.

“Ho, you’re sturdy for an Elite.”

Between the 33% defense reduction from Sanctuary Declaration and the HP drain from Dark Chains, surviving a point-blank blast from 30 Shadow Orbs was a testament to its massive health pool.

“Doesn’t matter. You’re combat-ineffective anyway.”

As he watched the Elite Orc struggle to push itself off the ground, a new sound echoed.

“Chweeeek!” “Kwaraang!”

About ten more Orcs were rushing toward the commotion.

“Hm? Oh! Right. As long as this guy is alive, the Orcs in the area will keep coming, won’t they?”

The Elite acted as a beacon. As long as he spared it, he didn’t need to wander the dungeon searching for prey; he could just sit and wait for the delivery.

“Shadow Orb.”

Boom!

Standing perfectly still, he maintained his 5 controllable orbs to quickly clean up the newcomers.

“This isn’t bad at all.”

Se-hyeon walked over to the Elite Orc, which had finally managed to wobble onto its feet. He aimed a single orb at its ankle.

Crunch! “Gwaaaaaaek!”

The Elite collapsed again, its leg shattered.

“There. Stay pinned to the floor. It’ll keep your pathetic life going a little longer. Manager Park! We’ve got a lot of pick-ups here. Empty your trailers and come back!”

There were now over 80 Orc corpses scattered in this clearing alone. Since the trailers were already mostly full, they needed to make a trip back to the entrance.

“U-understood!” Park Sang-soo replied, his voice shaking.

Having watched the spectacle from a distance, Park was struggling to process what he’d seen. This wasn’t F-rank or E-rank; this was a D-rank Elite and a horde of 70—no, 80 monsters. Se-hyeon had erased them in a heartbeat.

“And be careful on your way back! Actually, wait at the entrance. I’ll call you when it’s clear!”

Se-hyeon intended to farm this Elite for a while. It was ‘honey’—the ultimate convenience. Why hunt when you can have the prey come to you?

After killing another 40 Orcs that trickled in, Se-hyeon decided the efficiency was dropping. The intervals between groups were getting longer.

“It’s taking too long for them to show up now. Let’s finish this. Shadow Orb.”

Bang!

With one final shot, the Elite Orc was silenced. Se-hyeon sat down on its massive corpse.

“No more summons now that the leader is dead. Too bad no loot dropped, though.”

Elites and Bosses had a small chance to drop items, but the Elite Orc left nothing but its body and a mana stone.

“Well, can’t win them all. Time to call Manager Park.”

Before he could reach for his phone, Park Sang-soo and two porters arrived with three trailers. One porter remained at the entrance to guard the existing pile.

“Oh? I was just about to call you.”

“Haha, sorry we’re late. We had to unload the first batch and we moved very carefully getting back here.”

Se-hyeon smiled. “No worries. I just finished up anyway. We’ve got over a hundred more here, so it’ll take a few trips.”

He still kept his Subspace hidden. It wasn’t large enough to hold 100 bodies yet, and he didn’t want to risk anyone seeing him manifest objects out of thin air.

“We expected two trips. Alright, boys! Start loading!”

The porters, Jae-kwang and Chang-su, began working with feverish speed.

“Wow… how many is this? Counting the ones at the gate, it’s gotta be 200 Orcs! D-rank corpses… do you know how much money that is?”

“This is insane. I need to hit Phase 2 ASAP so I can just be Hunter Jang’s permanent porter.”

Their goals had shifted. They no longer dreamed of being “real” hunters; they wanted to be Se-hyeon’s exclusive staff. The income was simply incomparable.

Even Park Sang-soo was in awe. “Crushing a D-rank wave single-handedly… there’s going to be a riot at the office when we bring this Elite Orc in.”

The final tally was 207 Orcs (206 regular, 1 Elite).

At 800,000 won per corpse and 1.2 million per mana stone, plus the 13 million won premium for the Elite, the total came to over 425 million won. To make that much in a day, a party usually needed to clear a B-rank dungeon—and even then, it wasn’t guaranteed.

“Total is 425 million. After the 8% tax, it’s 391 million… but let’s just round it up to 400 million won for you,” Park Sang-soo said. As the on-site manager, he had the discretion to nudge the numbers for a VIP supplier.

“Four hundred million in one day?” the porters gasped.

In less than a week, Se-hyeon had earned over 600 million won.

“You all worked hard today, especially with the scouting,” Se-hyeon addressed the porters. “Because of you, we found the Elite quickly. I’ll be giving each of you 3% of today’s payout as a bonus.”

The porters’ eyes nearly popped out. “3%? Of 400 million? That’s… 12 million won each?”

They had made a year’s salary in a few hours of hauling trailers. They looked at Se-hyeon with the kind of loyalty usually reserved for deities.

“Think of it as a preview for when you become my private porters after your Phase 2 growth,” Se-hyeon said casually.

“I’ll reach Phase 2 if it kills me!” Chang-su shouted. “I’m yours for life!”

As the others cheered, one porter, Jae-kwang, approached Se-hyeon quietly. “Hunter Jang… thank you. Truly. Because of this, my wife can hold on a little longer.”

Se-hyeon blinked. “Is she ill?”

“Terminal cancer,” Jae-kwang sighed. “The doctors gave up, but I can’t. The treatment to slow it down and stop the pain is incredibly expensive. I was falling behind on the bills… you’ve saved us. Thank you.”

Se-hyeon felt a pang of sympathy. He knew the weight of losing family all too well.

“Hang in there,” Se-hyeon said softly. “Better days will come.”

“Haha, I hope so. Medical tech is advancing every day. Maybe they’ll conquer it soon, as long as she stays alive until then. Anyway, sorry for the heavy talk! I’m looking forward to the next one!”

Jae-kwang bowed deeply. Se-hyeon watched him go with a bittersweet smile.